A Plan for Teaching" 
Beginners to Read 



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A PLAN FOR 

Teaching Beginners to Read 



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Copyright, 1930 



CHARLOTTE B. SWIFT 



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Realizing from my experience in teaching primary reading that 
preliminary work is necessary before putting a book into the hands 
of the child, I have tried this plan for beginners and have found 
it very successful. 

It may be used for any primer but it is necessary to decide on 
one, in order that the vocabulary may correspond. 

Print is used entirely. The capital letters measure 2^^ inches 
and the small ones \}^ inches. Being large, the print is readily 
seen by the class. 



I have divided my plan into three parts. 

I. (1) The vocabulary. 
(2) Single sentences. 

II. Two sentences related in thought. 

III. The final charts. 



PART I. 
1. 

1. The vocabulary. 

Each word of the vocabulary is printed on a sheet of stiff paper. 
With these words I form sentences before asking the child to read. 

All new sentences are introduced in this way. The advantage is 
that a great variety of sentences is hereby made possible. 

2. Single sentences. 

These sentences are printed on long strips of paper. 



I begin by asking the children, what do you do with your eyes? 
After obtaining the answer, "I see."; I tell them I am going to show 
them how that looks on paper or in a book, and place the sheets 
with the printed words I and see on the ledge of the black- 
board in such a way as to form the sentence : 

I see. 

I have them read this for me. 

Then I show them pictures of a cat, dog, boy, girl, etc. These 
pictures I have on a roller shade with the word which the picture 
represents printed under the picture. I take from the vocabulary 
the words corresponding to the several words on the shade and 
give cat to one child, dog to another, boy to a third, an 1 
tell them to match their words with the words on the shade. Then 
I ask the child with the word cat, what he sees on the shade. When 
he tells me "I see a cat.", I tell him that I will show him how that 
looks in a book. I place a cat. after I see and ask him to read 
the sentence : 



I see a cat. 

Next I call on the child who has the printed sheet with dog. 
When he tells me "I see a dog.", I have him place the word dog 
over the word cat and tell him to read his sentence : 

I see a dog. 

In like manner I develop boy, girl, pig, hen, man, woman, seed, 
fox, etc. 

I use the picture of a red hen and after asking the color of the 
hen I form the sentence : 

I see a red hen. 

For big and little I have pictures of two boys which I have a 
child compare. Then I form the sentences: 

I see a big boy. 

I see a little boy. 

I introduce the article the by telling the children that we may 
use it instead of a. 

By using the picture of an old woman the word old is easily 
developed and I tell them that the word an is sometimes used 
with old. 

The children decide, since bread is made from wheat, that they 
would like to have our seed a wheat seed, so I form the sentence: 

I see a wheat seed. 



We and You are used in place of I. 

Thus after a sufficient number of nouns have been developed 
one has the complete lesson by changing (a) the subject; (b) the 
noun; (c) the article; or, (d) by using one of the developed 
adjectives. 



I see a cat. 
(a and b) You see a dog. 

We see a hen., etc. 

(c) I see the cat. 
You see the dog. 

We see the hen., etc. 

(d) I see a little cat. 
You see the big dog. 
We see the red hen. 
I see a wheat seed. 

We see an old woman., etc. 



The children may place the words in sentences as well as the 
teacher thus varying the work and promoting interest. 



After I have developed the different nouns I use the past form 
of the verb, as: 

I saw a cat. 
We saw the dog. 
You saw the hen., etc. 

Then I have the pretend lesson : 

I am a cat. 

I am a dog., etc. 

The verbs have and found are used with this set. 



The following words are necessary for Set I 



I 

You 

We 

am 

have 

see 

saw 

found 

a 

the 

an 



cat 
dog 

pig" 
hen 
seed 
man 
woman 
boy- 
girl 
fox 

children 
rat 
rabbit 



squirrel 

goat 

ox 

water 

fire 

stick 

big 

little 

old 

red 

wheat 

some 



SET I. 
Single Sentences 

I see a cat. 

We see the little woman. 

You see an old man. 

You saw the goat. 

We saw the girl. 

I saw a boy. 

I saw a fox. 

You have an ox. 

I have a red hen. 

We have a seed. 

We found the squirrel. 

You found the rabbit. 

I found a dog. 

(Used also with Part II, Set IV (a).) 



We see some children. 

I have some water. 

You saw the fire. 

We found a big stick. 

I am a little girl. 

I am a big boy. 

I saw an old man. 

We see the little old woman. 

You found a wheat seed. 



SET II. 



Necessary new words : 



can 


The 


run 


An 


sing 


not 


fly 


and 


did 


with 


Words 


previously taught: 


I 


hen 


You 


woman 


We 


cat 




dog 


little 


pig 


red 


boy 


old 


girl 


the (2) 


man 



to 

you 
me 
John 
Mary 



see 



SET II. 

Single Sentences 

I can run. 

You can not sing. 

We can not fly. 

You can sing and run. 

I can not fly and sing. 

You can run with me. 

I can not fly to you. 

The little red hen can fly to me. 

The old woman can not see you. 

An old man can not run with me. 

We did not see you. 

You did not see me. 

I can see you. 

You can not see me. 

The dog and the cat can run. 

We did not see the pig and the hen. 

I did not see the boy and the girl. 

You did not see John and Mary. 

The old man can not see me. 



SET IJI. 



Necessary new words 



(a) Get 


(c) 


drink 


(d) 


said 


get 




burn 




plant 


met 




beat 




cut 


wanted 




bite 




thresh 


got 




came 




grind 


(b) ran 




quench 




make 


away 








eat 


from 








made 


shall 








Who 


will 








bread 


after 








it 



SET III. 



Words previously taught : 



We 


The 


dog 


rabbit 


You 


the 


man 


squirrel 


I 


An 


fox 


fire 


me 


old 


girl 


seed 


you 


some 


pig 






an 


cat 




did 


little 


rat 




not 


big 


woman 




can 


wheat 


hen 




run 




boy 

goat 

stick 

water 

ox 

children 





SET III. 



Single Sentences 

(a) We did not get the dog. 
The man did not get the fox. 
The girl did not get the pig. 
The cat did not get the rat. 
You got the cat. 

An old woman got the hen. 

The boy got the goat. 

The man got the stick. 

The old woman wanted some water. 

An old man wanted an ox. 

You wanted a little squirrel. 

The girl wanted a rabbit. 

The man wanted a fire. 

The man met the little boy. 

We met an old woman. 

The old woman met a big girl. 

The girl met some children. 

(b) The hen ran away from the woman. 
You ran away from me. 

We ran away from you. 

The man ran away from the fox. 

I shall not run after the man. 

The fox will run after the hen. 

The girl can not run after the cat. 

You did not run after the pig. 

I will run away from you. 

You shall not run away from me. 

The dog can run away from the boy. 

The pig did not run away from the man. 



(c) The water will quench the fire. 
We will drink the water. 

The boy will beat the dog. 
The ox came to some water. 
We will cut the stick. 
The dog will not bite me. 
You made the fire. 
The fire will burn the stick. 

(d) We shall not plant the seed. 
I did not cut the wheat. 
We will grind it. 

I made the bread. 

We will eat it. 

You shall thresh the wheat. 

We will cut the bread. 

The woman will make the bread. 



To be used with Part II, Set IV (b) : 

The woman said, "I will make some bread." 
The woman said, "Who will get the hen?" 
The woman said, "Who met the old man?" 
The woman said, "Get the heri, Mary." 

The girl said, "I will cut the bread." 
The girl said, "Who made the bread?" 

The man said, "I can cut and thresh the wheat." 
The man said, "Who got the pig?" 
The man said, "Get the pig, John." 

The boy said, "I can plant the seed." 

The boy said, "I shall not grind the wheat." 

The boy said, "I can get the cat." 



PART II. 



1. Single sentences from Set I. 

2. Previously taught and new words on single sheets to form 
second sentence. 



II. 

Two sentences related in thought printed on large sheets of 
paper. 



For example : 

1. I saw a bo5^ 

Place this sentence on the ledge of the blackboard and have a 
child read it. 

2. Select from the vocabulary: 

He 

was 

big 

Place these words in a sentence beside the first sentence and have 
the children tell something about the boy: 

He was big. 



II. 



I saw a boy. 
He was big. 



SET IV. 

Necessary new words : 

He is ,But 

She was So 

It had Then 

she has then 

he There Not 

And 

Words previously taught: 



little 

old 

a 

big 

The 

wheat 

red 

an 

the 

it 



cat 


made 


man 


cut 


seed 


did 


woman 


said 


goat 


shall 


rat 


not 


boy 


get 


rabbit 


will 


pig 


eat 


hen 


John 


goat 


got 


dog 


Mary 


ox 




girl 




children 





PART II. Set IV. 



Two sentences related in thought 

(a) You see an old man. 
He is little. 

We see the little woman. 
She is old. 

I see a cat. 
It is a big cat. 

You see an old man. 

The old man has a wheat seed. 

We see the little woman. 
The woman has a goat. 

I see a cat. 

The cat has a rat. 

We saw the girl. 
She was little. 

I saw a boy. 

He was a big boy. 

We saw the girl. 
She had a rabbit. 

I saw a boy. 
He had a pig. 



I saw a fox. 

He had a red hen. 

You saw the goat. 
It was a big goat. 

We found the squirrel. 
It was little. 

You found the rabbit. 
The rabbit was big. 

I found a dog. 
The dog was little. 

You have an ox. 
He is a red ox. 

I have a red hen. 
She is little. 

We have a seed. 
It is a wheat seed. 

There was an old woman. 
She had a hen. 

There was an old man. 
He had a goat. 



(b) The woman said, "I will make some bread." 
And she made it. 

The girl said, "I will cut the bread." 
So she cut it. 



The boy said, "I can plant the seed." 
And he did. 

The man said, "I can cut and thresh the wheat." 
Then he did it. 

The boy said, "I shall not grind the wheat." 
The man said, "I shall then." 

The boy said, "I can get the cat." 
But he did not get it. 

The woman said, "Who will get the hen?" 
The girl said, "Not I." 

The man said, "Who got the pig?" 
The boy said, "Not I." 

The woman said, "Who met the old man?" 
The boy said, "Not I." 

The girl said, "Who made the bread?" 
The woman said, "I did not." 

The man said, "Get the pig, John." 
So John got it. 

The woman said, "Get the hen, Mary." 
But Mary did not get it. 

The man wanted a fire. 
So he made it. 

The woman will make the bread. 
Then the children will eat it. 



PART III. 



The Final Charts 

I see a girl. 

She is Mary. 

Mary is a big girl. 

She has a little hen. 

It is a red hen. 

The hen will not run away from Mary. 

We saw a boy. 

He was John. 

He had a big pig. 

The pig ran away from John. 

John wanted the pig. 

So he ran after it. 

And he got it. 

I see a man. 

The man is little and old. 

He has a wheat seed. 

He will plant the seed. 

But he will not cut and thresh the wheat. 

I see an old woman. 
The old woman is little. 
She can make some bread. 
She will cut the bread. 
Then she will eat it. 



I saw an old woman. 

She had some children. 

The children wanted some bread. 

So she made it. 

Then the children had bread to eat. 

The man has a dog and a cat. 

The dog is big. 

The cat is li'ttle. 

The dog will bite the cat. 

Then the man will beat the dog with a stick. 

We see an old woman. 

She is little. 

She has a cat. 

It is a little cat. 

The cat will run away from the old woman. 

Then the woman will run after the cat. 

But she will not get it. 

We met a little man. 

The man was old. 

He had a pig. 

It was a big pig. 

The pig ran away from the man. 

Then the man ran after the pig. 

But he did not get it. 



We saw a fox and a rabbit. 

The rabbit was little. 

The fox was big. 

The rabbit ran away. 

The fox ran after the rabbit. 

But the fox did not g"et the rabbit 

I see a rat and a cat. 

The cat is big. 

The rat is little. 

The cat will run after the rat. 

The rat will run away from the cat. 

The cat will not get the rat. 

We met a boy. 

The boy had a goat. 

The goat was big. 

The goat ran away from the boy. 

Then the boy ran after the goat. 

And he got it. 

W^e saw a fox. 

It was a big red fox. 

The fox saw a hen. 

The hen ran away from the fox. 

The fox wanted the hen. 

So he ran after it. 

And he got it. 



I had a squirrel. 

It was a little squirrel. 

The squirrel ran away from me. 

I ran after it. 

But I did not get it. 

We had a hen. 

She was little and red. 

The hen ran away from me. 

I wanted the hen. 

So I ran after it. 

But I did not get it. 

There was an old woman. 

The old woman wanted some bread. 

She said, "I will make it." 

So she made it. 

Then she said, "Who will cut the bread?" 

The girl said, "Not I." 

The woman said, "Then you shall not eat it." 

There was an old man. 

The old man had some wheat. 

He said, "Who will plant the wheat?" 

The boy said, "I will." 

So he did. 

Then the boy said, "I will cut it. 

And I will thresh and grind it." 



There was an old womati. 

The old woman said. "Who will get the eat?' 

The girl said, "I will." 

And she ran after it. 

But she did not get it. 

There was an old man. 

The man said, "Who can get the dog?" 

The boy said, "i can," 

The man said, "Then get it." 

And the hoy got the dog. 

We saw an ox. 

The ox was big and red. 

The ox ran away. 

He came to some water. 

He did not drink the water. 



I see a fire. 

It is a big fire. 

The fire will burn the stick. 

Get some water to quench the fire. 

The water will quench the fire. 



These charts may be used with word cards for seat-work. 



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